Kris Russell was born May 2, 1987 in Red Deer Alberta. The third round, 67th overall choice of the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, Russell is a graduate of the WHL's Medicine Hat Tigers.

A diminutive defenseman, Russell competed with a lot of heart and dedication throughout his junior career in Medicine Hat. In his final year as a member of the Tigers, he led the league's defenseman in scoring and was named the WHL Play of the Year.

Russell made his NHL debut with the Jackets in 2007-08, and went on to compete in 67 games for the club recording a pair of goals and eight assists.

Russell would spend the majority of the 2008-09 season with the Blue Jackets, appearing in 66 games for the club, scoring twice and adding 19 assists. The following season Russell would lead the Blue Jackets defence corps in goals and he would establish a career high with 23 points.

On November 11, 2011, Russell's time in Columbus would come to an end. He was traded to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for Nikita Nikitin. He would go on to appear in 43 games for the Blues during the 2011-12 season, notching four goals and five assists.

With the NHL mired in a labour dispute to start the 2012-13 season, Russell would begin the year in Finland with TPS Turka. When play resumed at the NHL level we would rejoin the Blues for 33 games, but would find himself slipping down the depth chart. Russell was ultimately placed on waivers and though he would go unclaimed, was eventually traded to the Calgary Flames in the summer of 2013 in exchange for a draft pick.

In his first year with Calgary (2013-14), Russell would suit up in 68 games, matching his career-best with seven goals and establishing new marks for assists (22) and points (29).

Russell would spend the better party of three seasons in Calgary, establishing himself as a mainstay on the back end. In the final year of his contract in the (2015–16) and with the Flames out of playoff contention, Russell was traded to the Dallas Stars on February 29, 2016, in exchange for Jyrki Jokipakka, Brett Pollock, and a conditional second round pick in the 2016 draft.

Internationally, Russell won gold medals with Canada at 2006 and 2007 World Jr. Championships.

REGULAR SEASON

PLAYOFFS

Season

Club

League

GP

G

A

TP

PIM

+/-

GP

G

A

TP

PIM

2003-04

Medicine Hat Tigers

WHL

55

4

15

19

30

-1

20

3

2

5

4

2003-04

Medicine Hat Tigers

M-Cup

4

0

0

0

0

2004-05

Medicine Hat Tigers

WHL

72

26

35

61

37

+29

10

2

1

3

4

2005-06

Medicine Hat Tigers

WHL

55

14

33

47

18

+8

13

4

8

12

11

2005-06

Canada

WJC-A

6

1

3

4

4

+6

2006-07

Medicine Hat Tigers

WHL

59

32

37

69

56

+14

23

4

15

19

24

2006-07

Canada

WJC-A

6

4

2

6

0

+3

2006-07

Medicine Hat Tigers

M-Cup

4

0

1

1

4

2007-08

Columbus Blue Jackets

NHL

67

2

8

10

14

-12

2008-09

Columbus Blue Jackets

NHL

66

2

19

21

28

-10

4

1

1

2

2

2008-09

Syracuse Crunch

AHL

14

3

5

8

0

-3

2009-10

Columbus Blue Jackets

NHL

70

7

15

22

32

+3

2009-10

Canada

WC-A

7

1

3

4

2

-2

2010-11

Columbus Blue Jackets

NHL

73

5

18

23

37

-9

2011-12

Columbus Blue Jackets

NHL

12

2

1

3

13

-1

2011-12

Canada

WC-A

4

0

3

3

2

+4

2011-12

St. Louis Blues

NHL

43

4

5

9

12

+13

9

0

3

3

5

2012-13

TPS Turku

Finland

15

2

12

14

8

2012-13

St. Louis Blues

NHL

33

1

6

7

9

+6

2013-14

Calgary Flames

NHL

68

7

22

29

15

-11

2014-15

Calgary Flames

NHL

79

4

30

34

17

+18

11

2

5

7

7

2015-16

Calgary Flames

NHL

51

4

11

15

8

-4

2015-16

Dallas Stars

NHL

11

0

4

4

2

-1

12

0

4

4

4

2016-17

Edmonton Oilers

NHL

68

1

12

13

23

+5

13

0

4

4

4

NHL Totals

641

39

151

190

210

49

3

17

20

22

Brother of Ryan
WHL East Second All-Star Team (2005) WHL East First All-Star Team (2006, 2007) WHL Defenseman of the Year (2006, 2007) Canadian Major Junior Second All-Star Team (2006) Canadian Major Junior Sportsman of the Year (2006) WHL Player of the Year (2007) Canadian Major Junior First All-Star Team (2007) Canadian Major Junior Defenseman of the Year (2007)

Traded to St. Louis by Columbus for Nikita Nikitin, November 11, 2011. Signed as a free agent by TPS Turku (Finland), September 26, 2012. Traded to Calgary by St. Louis for Calgary's 5th round pick (Jaedon Descheneau) in 2014 NHL Draft, July 5, 2013. Traded to Dallas by Calgary for Jyrki Jokipakka, Brett Pollock and Dallas' 2nd round pick (Dillon Dube) in 2016 NHL Draft, February 29, 2016. Signed as a free agent by Edmonton, October 7, 2016.